


Truth or Dare

by groff



Series: Pearlnet College AU [1]
Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Alcohol, Alternate Universe - College/University, Ambiguous/Open Ending, But Also Because She Wanted To, College, Drinking, Drinking Games, F/F, Feels, Flirting, Jealousy, Kissing, Kissing Because of a Dare, Light Angst, Romance, Truth or Dare
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-14
Updated: 2020-01-14
Packaged: 2021-02-27 13:21:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,147
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22247788
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/groff/pseuds/groff
Summary: College AU! Pearl goes to a party with a small group of friends and ends up playing truth or dare.
Relationships: Garnet/Pearl (Steven Universe), Lapis Lazuli/Peridot (Steven Universe), Past Pearl/Rose Quartz, Rose Quartz/Greg Universe
Series: Pearlnet College AU [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1601566
Comments: 7
Kudos: 67





	Truth or Dare

Pearl smoothed her skirt across her thighs, tucking her calves tighter underneath her. She placed a stray strand of hair behind her ears, then took a sip of the drink Rose has made her. Her fingers fidgeted with the end of her skirt, which was riding higher than she was comfortable with. Rose had helped her pick out the outfit, but now that she was here she wasn’t so sure about all of the skin she was showing. 

To her right, Rose was laughing and leaning into Greg’s side. The pitch of her voice told Pearl she was already well into tipsy. Pearl watched her out of the corner of her eye as she gracefully tossed a ringlet of her pastel pink hair over her shoulder, fluttering her eyelashes coyly as she murmured something to Greg. 

Pearl clenched her fists bunching gauzy fabric between her fingers. She had worked hard after Rose broke up with her to keep their friendship alive, but times like these were always difficult for her. It often felt like Rose was flaunting the fact that she had already moved on to someone else, even though Pearl knew that wasn’t true. Rose didn’t owe her anything, and it had been what? Almost two years since their romance had ended? 

“Do you want something else to drink?” 

Pearl flinched, turning to Garnet with a smile that felt more like a cringe on her face. “Um, no thank you.”

The woman next to her peered at her over the aviator shades she wore. “Are you certain? I need to grab another beer anyways, and you’ve been sipping on melted ice for the past half an hour.” She shook her empty beer can for emphasis. 

“Oh,” Pearl glanced at her cup. “I suppose I would like another, thank you.”

Garnet graced her with a small smile, leaning towards her to whisper, “Relax, Pearl. It’s a party.” Deft fingers skimmed across her wrist before they claimed her cup. She stood, turning to walk towards the kitchen. 

Pearl tried to relax, she did. It wasn’t even really a party, compared to other places Rose had dragged her to. This was just a small get together among friends, celebrating the end of finals week before they all broke off for the break. They were gathered at the house that Garnet, Amethyst, Greg, and Vidalia rented, and only a handful of people other than the residents were in attendance. Besides Pearl and Rose, there was Lapis, Peridot, Bismuth, and Vidalia’s newest fling. Pearl hadn’t bothered to learn his name. Even though Pearl was friends, or at least acquainted, with everyone she still couldn’t shake the tension that knotted her shoulders. 

Garnet wandered back in, pausing at the stereo to skip whatever song had been playing. Peridot complained loudly about it, but Garnet shooed her off with a wave and a terse “My house, my rules.” She then returned to Pearl’s side, settling gracefully next to her. Grasped in one had were two shot glasses, one filled to the brim with translucent purple liquid and the other filled with blue. 

“Blue raspberry or grape?” she asked. 

Pearl shook her head. “What is it?”

“Cheap vodka we put Jolly Ranchers in.”

“Grape.”

Garnet handed her the shot, then held hers out for Pearl to tap her glass with. She did so, then set the glass on the ground before lifting it to her lips. She downed the shot. The alcohol burned on its way down, making her eyes water. “Ugh,” she grumbled, wincing and sticking her tongue out. 

“Cheap,” Garnet reiterated, collecting the glass from her hand. 

Pearl nodded. “Clearly.”

Garnet set the two glasses aside, then handed her a new solo cup filled with the bright red punch they had all been drinking. It was not much better than the straight shot of vodka, but with ice it was at least tolerable. She thanked Garnet again and took a sip to try to clear the sour burn of the shot from her tongue. 

She meant to say something else to Garnet - maybe strike up a conversation, or compliment their couch or something else to distract herself - when another high laugh from Rose distracted her. She glanced and regretted it; Rose was now seated fully in Greg’s lap, giggling and pressing a kiss to his jaw. Her stomach twisted and she bit her lip. Ugh. Why did she even come?

“You look nice tonight.”

Pearl turned back to Garnet, distracted by the bitterness knotted in her chest. “I’m sorry, what did you say?”

“I said you look-”

Amethyst burst through the front door then, her short silver and purple hair plastered to her forehead with rain. Vidalia tumbled in after her, shouting, “We got the goods!”

Amethyst whooped her agreement, plopping down next to Garnet and shaking her head vigorously, splattering Garnet and Pearl both with freezing drops of water. 

“Amethyst!” she yelped in protest, scuttling away from her. She was ignored in favor of the bag that Vidalia dropped in Amethyst’s lap. 

Garnet stood and walked back into the kitchen. Amethyst began pulling the spoils she and Vidalia had retrieved from the nearby corner store out of her bag. A bottle of cheap tequila and fireball whiskey, a family sized bag of corn chips, a package of Oreos, and two packs of game cards. One looked like regular playing cards, which was silly because Pearl knew for a fact they had at least five other decks somewhere in this house. The other looked like Cards Against Humanity or game of that sort. 

Amethyst cracked open the bottle of whiskey and took a hearty swig before she handed it to Pearl. “Drink up, buttercup!” she crowed, practically forcing Pearl to take it. Pearl cringed, but gamely took a swallow before she set the bottle on the floor and scooted it towards Rose and Greg. 

“Guess what we found!” Vidalia said. She had left the room when Amethyst had sat down, presumably to change her clothes. She was rubbing a towel over her wet hair. She snatched the second deck of cards out of Amethyst’s hands before seating herself across from Pearl next to her fling, who had been conversing lively with Peridot. She didn’t wait for an answer, but brandished the cards. “Truth or dare!” 

Lapis groaned from her spot next to Peridot and Amethyst. “In card game form, really? Does no one here have enough brain cells to make up their own?”

“This is just easier,” Vidalia replied, ripping the packaging open and tossing the plastic wrap onto the floor beside her. She winked at Lapis as she pulled the cards out to separate and shuffle into two decks. “Besides, this is the college version so it should be fun.”

Pearl didn’t like the sound of that. 

Garnet came back in at that moment, dropping a clean towel over Amethyst’s head and offering Pearl a washcloth and another shot as she sat down. Pearl took both gratefully. She was not near drunk enough for a game like this. 

“Rules are simple,” Vidalia explained. “White cards are truth cards, black cards are dare cards. If you don’t want to answer or don’t want to do the dare, you drink. Your choice of whiskey or tequila.” she leaned past Rose and Greg to snatch the already open bottle and placed it in the middle of their loose circle. Amethyst cracked open the tequila to place next to it. “You can’t truth or dare the same person twice per round, and you can’t pick the same person twice until you’ve picked everyone at least once.”

“I’ll start!” Amethyst yelled. She looked around the circle. Pearl held her breath and tried not to make eye contact. “Rose!” she finally decided. “Truth-” dramatic pause for effect “-or dare?” 

Rose grinned playfully. “Truth.”

“Aww, come on!” Amethyst complained before scooping up the top most white card. Her eyes scanned over it. “If you could marry one proffesor in the school, who would you pick and why?” 

Pearl rolled her eyes and leaned back against the couch, pulling her legs into a butterfly position. Her knee brushed Garnet’s thigh, but she ignored it. She knew Rose’s answer before she said it. 

Rose leaned her head back against Greg’s shoulder, bracing the back of her hand dramatically against her forehead. “Why, Mrs. Janet Willis, of course. She’s so beautiful, and her voice is so melodic.” She pressed her free hand against her heart, making a fist. “If I weren’t on scholarship, I would have failed her class just so I could take it again.” 

Pearl shook her head wryly as the rest of the group groaned. No one else saw Rose’s attraction to the strange teacher. Though she was pretty, with long blond tresses, round face, and athletic build, she was anti-social and blunt. She could be strict and often cruel to those who didn’t fully grasp the information she taught. Pearl knew the only reason Rose had actually passed the class was because Pearl had taken it with her. It was Calculus 101. While Pearl excelled at math courses, Rose did not. 

“Predictable, as usual,” Amethyst groaned, discarding her card and gesturing to Garnet. 

Pearl held her breath again, begging Garnet inwardly not to pick her. She felt eyes on her skin through the aviators before they moved on. “Lapis,” she decided. 

“Dare,” was the immediate response. 

Garnet drew a black card and leaned back against the couch, draping her arm casually across the cushions. Though her arm wasn’t in direct contact with Pearl’s shoulders, she could feel the heat from the other woman’s body through the close proximity. 

“I dare you,” Garet started, hesitating as she read the card. “To gargle a shot of tequila.” 

Pearl let out a bark of startled laughter. Amethyst dove for the tequila, snatching up one of the empty shot glasses as she shoved both into Lapis’ stunned hands. 

“Do it, do it!” Peridot said, her shoulders shaking with laughter. 

“Don’t puke!” Vidalia goaded. 

Cringing, Lapis poured herself half a shot. “If I puke, I’m puking on Peri,” she grumbled, setting the bottle back in the center as she cradled the shot in her hands. 

Greg, Amethyst, and Vidalia chanted, “Do it, do it, do it!” while the others watched in amusement. Lapis took the alcohol carefully into her mouth, face crumpling in disgust at the taste. Pearl doubted it tasted very good, especially for an extended period of time. Lapis slowly tilted her head back and parted her lips, making choked gurgling noises as the room erupted into cheers. Pearl clapped with the others as Lapis swallowed, coughing at the lingering taste of the cheap liquor in her mouth.

“Jesus,” she croaked. “How much was that bottle, three dollars?” Peridot threw her arm around Lapis’ shoulders, shaking her gleefully. 

“Amethyst,” Pearl selected once everyone had calmed and the attention was turned on her.

“Dare!” Amethyst bellowed. “Obviously!”

Pearl pulled a black card, and shivered in disgust as she read the dare. “I dare you to drink toilet water.”

The room erupted into a mix of disgust and enthusiasm as Amethyst immediately leapt up from her spot, shot glass in hand, and rushed for the bathroom. Vidalia scrambled after her, nearly knocking the open bottle of whiskey over as she hurried to make sure Amethyst didn’t cheat. Garnet caught the bottle smoothly and returned it to its rightful spot. When she settled back against the couch, she tucked her arm more firmly against Pearl’s shoulders, drawing her closer to her side. 

Pearl knew she should move away, but it felt nice. The alcohol was warming her veins now, making her feel more loose and comfortable. Besides, her and Garnet were friends. There was nothing weird about cuddling with a friend. 

Amethyst and Vidalia ran back into the room, Amethyst triumphantly holding up a glass of clear liquid. She downed it like a shot. Pearl faked a gagging noise. 

The game went on like that for several rounds. Occasionally, an argument would break out over someone’s answer to a truth question or the rules for a dare. Pearl drank for one truth - who’s your secret crush - and one dare - perform a dance to the darer’s song of choice - and felt pleasantly buzzed by the time they were down to the last few cards. Everyone else was clearly drunk, their laughter loud and voices louder as they talked and jostled each other. Peridot was leaning sloppily into Lapis’ side, feet stretched across Vadlia’s lap as she lounged. Amethyst was sprawled on the floor, cuddling with a multi-colored unicorn pillow pet that she swore was supposed to be ‘ironic.’ At some point, Vidalia’s fling had snuck out to have a smoke break and hadn’t bothered to come back. Greg was sitting in Rose’s lap now, flushed and giddy as they flirted quietly between rounds. Normally, that would have stung. It would have been rubbing salt into wounds she still bore. But today, tipsy and warm, legs now draped over Garnet’s thighs and pressed close to her side, giggling at every witty comment Garnet whispered into her ear, she couldn’t bring herself to care. 

“Last round!” Amethyst declared. She turned immediately to Garnet. “Truth or dare, my friend?” There was a mischievous twinkle in her eyes. 

There was a moment of hesitation as Garnet eyed Amethyst curiously through her aviators. Pearl leaned her head against Garnet’s shoulder, eyes half closed sleepily. Finally, Garnet said, “Dare.”

“Yes!” Amethyst yelled, laughing maniacally. She snatched a card from the deck and glanced at it before she rolled over onto her back, grinning at Garnet from her topsy turvy position. “I dare you-” she discreetly tucked the card into her jeans pocket, “-to-” she paused, long enough for the rest of the group to settle into heavy anticipation. “-kiss the prettiest person in the room!” 

There was a pause before total chaos erupted. 

“That’s totally not a real card!” Vidalia shouted. 

“You can’t kiss Lapis!” Peridot shrieked, throwing herself haphazardly over Lapis’ lap. 

“Kiss, kiss, kiss!” Amethyst chanted over the din. 

It devolved quickly into a shouting match over who was the prettiest person in the room. Votes went to Greg - “Just look at his hair!” Vidalia complained, yanking on a strand of his thick brown locks - and Rose - by Vidalia’s fling, who had slunk back in at just the right time - and Amethyst - “Obviously why she made this dare,” Lapis said - before the debate settled into whether or not Garnet could kiss herself and it be a valid completion of the dare. Pearl just watched in amusement. She figured this would end when Garnet decided to drink instead of kiss someone. 

As the debate started to heat up again, Garnet shifted away from her. Pearl sat up, skin going cool as her source of warmth moved away. She frowned at the loss. Garnet stood in the center of the circle, causing the rest to go immediately quiet. Rather dramatically, Pearl thought, Garnet placed her hands on her hips and studied each person in turn, starting with Amethyst. 

Amethyst made loud smooching noises at her, pressing her palms to her cheeks to puff out her full lips even further. “Don’t be shy,” she goaded. “I know all your secrets, Garnet.”

Garnet huffed and turned to Lapis, who was immediately blocked by Peridot. Pearl imagined that Garnet rolled her eyes at the display of defensiveness as she turned to Vidalia. 

Vidalia stared her straight in the aviators steadily, a slow grin creeping up her face. She winked and Garnet turned towards Vidalia’s fling. She didn’t hesitate long on him before she turned to look at Greg. Her aviators slid down her nose as she tilted her head forward. 

Greg offered her a cheeky wave from Rose’s lap. Garnet shook her head and looked at Rose. Rose met her eyes steadily. A long moment passed between them. Pearl could almost feel ice prickle in the air as they stared each other down. Finally, Garnet shook her head and turned to Pearl. 

Pearl suddenly felt small under the observation. She giggled nervously, keeping her eyes focussed on Garnet’s midriff instead of her eyes. It was silly that she couldn’t bring herself to look at Garnet’s face since they had been snuggling for the majority of the night, but the heat she glimpsed in those bare blue and brown eyes made her stomach turn with anxiety. 

“Pearl,” Garnet said quietly. 

Pearl let her eyes flit up before she dropped them back down, lower this time to Garnet’s feet. An embarrassing titter escaped her lips as her lips wobbled into a smile. “Yeah?” Her face warmed, and she was certain it wasn’t from the alcohol. 

Suddenly, Garnet was kneeling between her legs, one hand braced on the couch cushion and the other cupping her cheek. The close proximity forced Pearl to meet her eyes. Garnet had always had such lovely eyes, one deep, clear blue, and the other a dark, honey brown. The aviators slipped farther down her nose as she leaned forward. She paused inches away from Pearl’s face, eyes trained on hers. 

Pearl’s face felt like it was on fire. Her hands clung to her skirt. Her eyes slipped for just a second from Garnet’s eyes to her full lips before darting back up. She registered Amethyst to her left humming “Kiss the Girl” loudly and out of tune. 

“I’m going to kiss you now,” Garnet said, her voice low and smooth. 

Pearl nodded quickly, eyes slipping to Garnet’s lips to linger. 

“Nod if you’re ok with that.”

She nodded again, and watched, entranced, as Garnet’s lips flickered into a quick grin before they dipped closer. The seconds between contact felt like an infinite amount of time before Garnet finally kissed her properly. Pearl couldn’t help but melt into it, one hand rising to clutch the wrist near her face and the other sliding into the thick, curly hair at the back of Garnet’s head. Garnet’s body slid forward so she could brace her elbow against the couch, pressing Pearl further into it. The slide of lips against Pearl’s made her tingle all over, from her toes to the top of her head. Heat fluttered in her stomach as Garnet tilted her head, tongue sliding out to press against her lower lip. 

A wolf whistle from Amethyst broke them apart before the kiss could get deeper. Garnet withdrew, hesitantly hovering a breath away before she pulled back entirely. A cacophony of cheers rose from the rest of the party goers as Pearl let her hands fall from Garnet to her sides. Garnet kept her hand on Pearl’s cheek, her thumb gently brushing along the ridge of her cheekbone. Pearl could see Rose clapping stiffly out of the corner of her eyes. 

Anxious dread filled Pearl’s stomach, replacing the heat and pleasure that had built there with a cold shock of reality. “I have to leave,” she mumbled, drawing her arms close to her chest in an attempt to distance herself from what had just happened. 

Amethyst threw herself at Garnet, one hand wrapping around her shoulders as she laughed. “Way to go, Garnet!” she yelled, oblivious. “Just gotta kiss the girl!” she sang incorrectly. 

Pearl stood jerkily, gluing her eyes to the ceiling so she didn’t have to see Rose or Garnet or anyone else looking at her. “I have to leave,” she said again, louder. She stumbled past Amethyst, nearly knocking over the half full bottle of tequila in her haste. She snatched her coat off the hook by the door before flinging it open and bolting out. She couldn’t bring herself to look back as she slammed the door. 

The freezing rain had lessened from the earlier downpour. She was grateful for that. She shoved her arms into the sleeves of her coat as she hurried away. She was already halfway down the road, back to her dormitory, when she heard the door bang open behind her. 

“Pearl!” she heard Amethyst yelp behind her. “Pearl, hold on for just a second. Just wait!” 

Pearl didn’t slow down, easily losing Amethyst with her long stride. Embarrassment burned through her. She could have just played it cool, laughed it off. But no, she had to be dramatic and uptight about it. 

_ It was just a kiss,  _ she told herself. Just a kiss, just a kiss. She couldn’t stand it. It had felt so good. Garnet had chosen her, out of all the people in the room. She had felt invisible before, suffering in the shadow of Rose and her newfound love for Greg, but Garnet had picked her. Kissed  _ her. _ It had been almost two years since she had been kissed, and longer since she had been kissed deeper than just a quick peck. Her last kiss had been Rose, fuck, Rose, Rose, why was it always  _ Rose _ ?!

That was the real problem, wasn’t it? Not that Pearl had been kissed, not that Pearl had enjoyed being kissed, not that Pearl had enjoyed how strong Garnet’s arms had felt around her, how safe she felt pressed against her side. No, the problem was Rose and her eyes and her eyes on Pearl and her witnessing Pearl’s first kiss since they broke up. The real problem was that Pearl was still desperately clinging to her feelings for Rose, trying to smother them, cover them up, trying to twist them into something more palatable. Something that wasn’t a mix of hurt and anger and betrayal, love and agony over someone who didn’t actually love her. 

No, the problem wasn’t even Rose. It was Pearl. Tears welled in her eyes. Her legs pumped faster as she sped toward her dorm. Pearl who couldn’t let go. Even after almost two years, she couldn’t let go. 

A hand gripped her elbow suddenly, breaking her sprint. She yelped as the person swung her around gracefully, careful not to hurt her as they set her on her feet. She looked up, and was horrified to see it was Garnet. 

“Don’t look at me,” Pearl whimpered, ducking her head to hide the tears in her eyes. “Please, Garnet, I can’t.” 

“It’s ok,” Garnet told her. Pearl cringed away from the gentle, soothing tone. The grip on her elbow softened. “Pearl, it’s ok.” 

“It’s not ok!” Pearl shouted, jerking her arm away. “It’s not ok!” 

“All right,” Garnet agreed. 

“Why? Why did you have to kiss me? You could have picked literally anyone else!” 

“The dare was to kiss the prettiest person in the room,” Garnet explained, like it was the simplest thing in the world. “So I did.” 

“I’m not,” Pearl shook her head, shoulders hunching as she curled her arms around her stomach. 

“To me you are.” 

Pearl shook her head. 

They stood in silence for a long minute, at an impasse. “I’m sorry,” Pearl finally blurted out. “I shouldn’t have overreacted. It was just a kiss.” 

“No,” Garnet disagreed. “It wasn’t.” 

Pearl looked up, startled. 

“I kissed you because I wanted to, not because of a dare.” 

“But Amethyst-”

“Amethyst dared me to kiss someone because she knew I wanted to kiss you.” Garnet shook her head, lips twisted in exasperation. She slid her aviators off her face and tucked them into her pocket. “I told her you weren’t ready, but once she has an idea in her head…” she rolled her eyes. 

“I-I,” Pearl stuttered. 

“I do like you, Pearl. I’d like to take you on a date, sometime. Maybe when break is over?” 

Pearl had to force herself to take a deep breath. She felt warm all over, flattered that someone like Garnet liked her. She met Garnet’s eyes. “I can’t,” she breathed out, closing her eyes against the disappointment she might see in Garnet’s face. “Not right now. I’m just, it’s Rose and Greg and I can’t-”

“It’s all right,” Garnet said. 

Pearl glanced at her through her eyelashes, but Garnet just smiled at her. 

“But we could text, maybe,” Pearl offered. She dug into her pockets and froze. Had she…?

Garnet offered her her cell phone and keys, both of which she had left on the end table at the house. She let out a soft laugh as Pearl carefully took them from her. 

“I’d like that. If we could get to know each other better. And then maybe we could talk about that date.” 

Pearl gave her a wobbly smile, cradling the phone to her chest. Her heart thrummed, but she felt lighter somehow. “You could give me your number?” she asked. 

Garnet touched her wrist gently, a teasing smile on her face. “If I remember correctly, you probably already have that.” 

Pearl let out a puff of air, exasperated with herself. “Oh.” 

Garnet grinned. “Can I walk you back to your dorm?”

Pearl nodded, her face flushing. “If you want to.”

“I do.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks bunches to Harinezumiko for beta-ing! Hope ya'll enjoy :) I'm planning a sequel oneshot and I have a few more college AU fics in mind so keep an eye out!


End file.
